Brainsquare review: thinking outside the box, literally

Do you like slide-tile puzzle games? Do you like to challenge yourself with brain-bending problems? If your answer is yes to both questions, then Brainsquare is the game for you.

Instead of sliding three by three or four by four tiles confined in a square board, to see a complete picture of some random animals or scenery as in traditional slide puzzle games, in Brainsquare, the purpose of the game is to swipe colored square tiles until they line up with their corresponding pins (a colored ring). Finish with the least amount of time and swipes to earn a gold ribbon.

Sounds easy right? For the first couple of levels in the Starter Pack, with only two colors to solve, perhaps. But try solving a board where there are three, four or even more colors, with pins far apart or crossing between the colored tiles. Add to the fact that there are no borders and the tiles move differently based on the swipe direction, you can find yourself scratching your head in no time. Even if you’re not aiming to get a gold ribbon on every level.

It may sound overwhelming at first, and some of the later levels may seemed fiendishly hard, but the game is not impossible to get into. On the contrary, Cambodia-based developer Som Pom Games has made this game accessible for different kinds of gamers. The app can be downloaded for free, but all you get is the tutorial. If you’re interested, then you can buy two different level packs.

The Zen Pack ($0.99, which contains the casual game levels) and The Smarter Pack ($0.99, it contains the more serious, hardcore levels for those who already mastered the Zen one). The first ten thousand buyers can get both level packs for the same price ($0.99). You will also get the Starter Pack, which is an extension of the tutorial to get you started. More packs are expected to be released in the future, starting with the Godzilla Pack (one can only wonder how big or hard it will be).

In the Zen levels, you will only get to deal with two colored tiles with different boards (mostly square-shaped, but there are some unique shapes such an ‘s’ shape, ‘y’ shape, ‘l’ shape, and more unique ones as you go through the levels). In these levels, you’ll start to learn the behavior of the tiles: swiping a tile left, will bring down the tiles on top of it, swiping down will bring the tiles on the right side of it to the left, and so on. If a particular puzzle gets rough, you can buy a hint to help you solve it. But if you beat a level and share your success story on Facebook, you’ll receive two hints for free. It’s a very smart way to promote a game and help gamers at the same time.

Once you’ve mastered the one hundred twenty Zen levels (it will take quite a while), you’re just about ready to take on the Smarter levels. These eighty levels are the real deal; you will start with three colors and the boards’ shapes get increasingly harder: a hollow rectangle, a crab, a bug, Space Invaders aliens, etc. Finishing the first couple of levels take quite a bit of effort, and if you beat the later levels with five or six colored tiles and strange board shapes, the sense of accomplishment is just breathtaking.

The graphics are very simple, a throwback to the simple-to-play-but-hard-to-master games of old. The music is very nice; slow, easy-listening acoustic guitar strings and percussion helps you to keep your cool while finishing the levels. Visually and aurally, the Brainsquare is not ground-breaking, but it’s still nice.

In the end, this is not a game for everyone. If you like casual, fast-paced, nice looking games, then you’d better steer clear of it. But if you’re into puzzles and brain workouts that offer a real challenge, you’ll find yourself coming back for more, trying to beat the levels in the shortest time and with as few swipes as possible.